The East Berlin Unplugged Bike Tour
Relive the time of the GDR on our “East Berlin Unplugged” bike tour
From pre-fab to Stasi prison – Join us on an bike tour expedition to a lost land, discover what it was like behind the iron curtain.
The GDR (German Democratic Republic – communist East Germany) was a country made up of contradictions. Some say, that people stuck together more; other say that you couldn’t even trust your own family. We examine the clichés and the prejudices that still exist today and take the time to look behind the scenes at the inner workings of the omni-present communist regime. Find out how much of East Berlin and East Germany still lingers in the lives and minds of people almost 25 years after the fall of the Wall.
A new country with a new socialist people also needed a new capital city. So the leadership got to work, radically transforming East Berlin, the capital of the GDR. Modern representative buildings, like those in the Stalinallee (English: Stalin Avenue), as well as the ubiquitous pre fabricated apartment blocks for the masses, shot into the air with dizzying speed. These remnants of socialist central planning are still definitive in the atmosphere of the former East Berlin.
On our way through Prenzlauer Berg you’ll meet Ernst Thälmann enshrined in one of the few remaining monuments to the heroes of the communist era. You’ll see the Sportforum Hohenschönhausen where young men and women were drilled and doped into elite super athletes meant to demonstrate the superiority of the communist system. You’ll also get a look over the forbidding walls of a Stasi prison and see inside the massive apparatus organizing over 80,000 secret police and their collaborators, whose sole duty was to spy on their own people.
Unlike our other guided tours, we are on the road for six hours and ride a distance of around 22km including a leisurely lunch break.
Special prices for school groups
Impressions of the “East Berlin Unplugged” bike tour
Follow your own schedule and take The East Unplugged as a private tour with your own berlin-on-bike-guide.
The complete and total bike experience.
We’ve got a whole lot of extra services for those looking to experience Berlin by bike, most of which are absolutely free!
- Helmets: free of charge on guided tours, otherwise 2€ per day, 1€ for each additional day.
- Rain ponchos, just in case it rains more than expected, otherwise our groups take cover during heavy rain.
- Pant clips, to keep your pants from getting greasy.
- Gloves, to keep your fingers war in the chillier autumn months.
- Sunscreen lotion, protection for all types of skin.
- Maps of Berlin.
- Bottled water (regular and sparkling water 1€ for a .5 liter bottle).
- Further recommendations for the rest of your stay in Berlin
Anything else we can do for you? Just let us know, because if we can’t help you, we definitely know who can!
How to find Berlin on Bike
All of our tours begin at the “Kulturbrauerei” in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg district. The painstakingly restored brewery complex is the ideal place to test out your bike before the tour. A variety of restaurants and beer gardens just around the corner offer the perfect way to relax and reflect after a fabulous tour. The easiest way to enter the brewery is on the Knaackstraße 97, just beyond the intersection with the Danziger Straße . After that you just follow the yellow “Berlin on Bike” signs.Directions from Eberswalder Straße metro station
- take the exit marked:”Danziger Straße”
- head toward the street that leads away from the elevated train tracks to the left. Cross over to the right hand side of the street.
- after 150 meters you’ll reach the Knaackstraße, turn right. After 30 meters turn left through a large archway.
- follow the yellow “Berlin on Bike” signs
